Markets Hold Steady Amid Earnings Flood and Chip Drama

Earnings Season in Full Swing

Tuesday is one of the heaviest days of the reporting season. KO and UPS both reported this morning. BA and PYPL report this afternoon. RCL is a key watch — any guidance upgrade could lift the entire cruise sector. Markets are digesting results in real time, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing lower as chip stocks failed to hold early gains.

Semiconductors Remain Under Pressure

NVDA CEO Jensen Huang met with Commerce Secretary Lutnick today. The meeting comes amid continued China export scrutiny. NVDA's RSI sits at 42. Bearish options flow is elevated across semiconductors. AMD is up 131% year-to-date but momentum is fading. TSLA carries the weakest RSI among mega-caps at 27.3 — deeply oversold territory.

Short Sellers Target Retail and Autos

Bears are pressing hard on consumer names. Chewy short interest hit 81.2% of free float, up 15 points in a week. Hertz sits at 78.6% with zero shares left to borrow. Wolfspeed remains the most extreme — short interest exceeds 118% of free float, with cost to borrow near 9.6%.

European Blue Chips Draw Insider Buying

Scandinavian investors are putting serious money to work. Industrivärden filed a SEK ~4.7 billion purchase of VOLV B shares on July 27. Swedish bank SHB A attracted over $93 million in board-linked buying last week. Both moves signal confidence at the highest levels of Swedish corporate governance.

Goldman Sachs trimmed its target on HCA to $485 but kept its Buy rating. Charter Communications faces a double headwind — a Citi target cut and 28% short interest.